Robert Brown(1926-2022)

American actor, a tall, rugged television leading man of the 1960s and 70s, as well as a voice actor and occasional writer, not to be confused with the British actor of that name (1921-2003) who played M in several James Bond films. There was also Robert Howell Brown -- better known as Robert Lansing -- who arrived on the scene after Robin Adair MacKenzie Brown had already trademarked the 'Robert Brown' moniker in the Screen Actors Guild. Brown, the younger of two siblings born to parents William and Margaret in Trenton, New Jersey, was of English and Scottish ancestry. After wartime service in the U.S. Navy he studied acting under Lee Strasberg at the New School Dramatic Workshop (originally founded in 1940 by German theater director Erwin Piscator), alongside fellow alumni Rod Steiger and Walter Matthau. He made his debut both on Broadway and on the screen in 1948. He first appeared in several early anthology dramas on television and in a couple of B-movies. His first noteworthy role was as Sir Justin in the Roger Corman-directed gothic horror Tower of London (1962). He also had three guest spots on Perry Mason (1957) before being famously cast as a last-ditch replacement for John Drew Barrymore (whose 'no show' on the set resulted in a six-months suspension of his Screen Actors Guild membership) to play the part of alien scientist Lazarus in the Star Trek (1966) episode The Alternative Factor. While probably doing his best with the role -- given the short notice he had to come to grips with the intricate script -- Alternative Factor is generally ranked as one of the lesser entries in the franchise. Brown's luck did not improve the following year. Slated for the career-making role of Steve McGarrett in Hawaii Five-O (1968), he was dropped by producer Leonard Freeman at the eleventh hour in favour of Jack Lord.

Finally given a chance to shine, Brown was cast in the leading role of Jason Bolt, the extrovert boss of a lumberjacking outfit, in Here Come the Brides (1968), an off-beat western series said to have been inspired by the classic MGM musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954). It ran for two seasons, after which Brown had another starring role as the eponymous oceanographer of Primus (1971), a scuba-diving adventure set around Nassau in the Bahamas. This show was produced by Ivan Tors who had made his reputation in the aquatic arena with Sea Hunt (1958) and Flipper (1964). Primus fared rather less well in the ratings and was axed after just one season. Brown then made just a few more sporadic TV guest appearances before fading from the scene in 1994.